Set in the original region of Arciel, Legends Rising is a route-inspired, but not strictly route-based, Pokemon roleplay. Pick a faction, pick a class, and strike out into the wild to take on the League, master Contest coordination, research the mysteries of Pokemon and Arciel, and much, much more. Will you be a classic trainer? A criminal? A farmer? Choose your destiny on Legends Rising.
After obtaining Ebony from professor Holly, Luka had only spent enough time in Birch to gather up his bag and the essentials for his trip, and of course for his aunt to dote on his pokemon a little bit. The houndour, for her part, had wethered the affection with a look of stoicism, though Luka had taken note of her little stub tail wagging. Once that was set, they were off onto route one, Luka looking at a map as they walked side-by-side. "So the next town is Cedar, but it's not a super long walk. Still, are you gonna be okay in this cold?" He had bundled up in a black jacket to stave off the frigid air, but all she had was her fur coat.
As always, she didn't make any auditory response, but she simply bounded ahead a ways, as though to tell him that he had more to worry about than her. Well, he supposed she was a fire type, she was probably fairly resistant to cold. "Well okay then. In that case why don't we see if we can get a few more friends while we're on our way?" He asked, looking around. Even in this weather there had to be a pokemon or two out and about, hunting or foraging. "It really is beautiful out here." He mumbled as they meandered through the frigid landscape. Cold as it was, there was a crisp beauty to the rolling hills and babbling streams making their way to the ocean to the west.
"Actually, why don't we take a break, I want to do some sketching." He said finding a rocky patch and taking a seat, pulling his well-used sketchbook out of his back. It was black, with cartoonish skull stickers all across the front. "If you want, just give me a nudge and I'll put you in your pokeball."
Ebony scratched the ground in annoyance at the insinuation, and instead just took up position in front of her trainer, seated with her back to him, looking out at the ocean, and Luka smiled. She couldn't have made a better model if he had asked her, and with that, he opened his book, pulled out his pencils, and got to work, losing track of his surroundings as he focused on capturing the scene in front of him.
Luka had been drawing for a few minutes when he suddenly heard a noise behind him. "Hm?" He looked back, but he didn't see anything. "Huh..." He went back to his work, but then he heard it again. Once again he looked back, and once again he saw nothing. He frowned, then slowly went back to drawing, deciding to try something. This time when he heard it he looked the direction opposite to where it came from, before quickly whipping around. "Found you." He said at the sight of the miltank, who looked absolutely mortified. Ebony hopped and turned on her heel, looking intently at the normal type, waiting for Luka to give an order.
"Calm down, Ebony." Luka said, before looking back at the Miltank. "Don't worry, I don't want to pick any fights with you. Why were you sneaking up behind me though?" This miltank did not look like the type to attack someone, whether their back was turned or not, so there had to be a reason. He figured that maybe if he started a dialogue, he could possibly convince her to join him. He wasn't opposed to battling a pokemon to get them on his team, but in this case it seemed a bit cruel to just randomly attack such a shy looking pokemon who seemed to have no interest in battling.
"Mil..." She muttered, shakily pointing a hoof at Luka's sketchbook.
"Ooooh, you wanted to see what I was doing." He said with a grin, before showing it to her. It was only half done, but it was clearly Ebony overlooking the ocean. Ebony padded over and took a look, her eyes widening when she realized she had been the subject of his sketch. A slight satisfaction came over her features, and she looked at Luka fondly.
Miltank, for her part, was looking between the drawing and Ebony curiously. "Mil Miltank..." She said, a certain wonder to her vocalizations.
"I've never drawn a houndour before so it's not that great, but I think it's alright." He said, "Would you like me to draw you?" He asked, pointing from the drawing to miltank with his pencil. That seemed like a good way to make friends with her, and even if it didn't pan out he had never gotten to draw a miltank either, so it'd be great practice.
Miltank put her hooves to her chest, and Luka swore she was blushing. After a moments' hesitation, she nodded, before backing up a bit and, after looking flustered, sat down on the ground in what she assumed would be a good pose.
"Heh, you're a natural model!" Luka said, getting to work. Ebony trotted up beside him, looking at the drawing progress. It took a while, and a few times she tried to lean forward and see, and Luka had to gently ask her not to move. However, finally, he turned it around and showed a rather impressive rendering of a Miltank.
"Miltank!" She said cheerily, looking at it with glee.
"I'm glad you like it! If you want, I can give it to you to keep." Luka said, much to her surprise, "Or, if you liked modeling, maybe you can come with me and I can draw you again whenever you like? Ebony and I are going on a journey, and we can use a few new friends. And I could always use some more art practice." He pulled out an empty pokeball and expanded it, offering it to her. "What do you say?"
||587 Words - Solo - Trying to Befriend the Miltank!
The miltank looked at the ball pensively, as though unsure if the human was being genuine. Finally, though, she seemed to come to a decision, before tapping the pokeball with her hoof. The pokeball opened up, and she was pulled in. It wiggled ever so slightly in Luka's hand, before he heard the ding that signified the new partnership. Luka smiled and sent her back out, the Miltank looking up at him happily. "Welcome to the team. Before we keep going I should come up with a name for you though. Hm... do you like Olivia?" He asked, returning her pokeball to his belt.
She rubbed her hoves together considering it, before nodding. The miltank, now dubbed Olivia, looked down the path towards Cedar. "Tank?" She said questioningly. She had seen humans going down that way before, usually hidden as much as she could. She could only assume her new trainer had the same goal.
Luka nodded. "Yup, that's where we're headed. We still have a way to go, though, and I'd rather not let it get too late in this cold, so we should probably get going." He said, and with that the trio continued on their way, eventually coming to a sparse wooded area. "Stay close you two, I'm sure there are other pokemon living around here." Olivia was happy to oblige, clinging to her partner's leg. Meanwhile, Ebony took up a defensive poition by her partner's side, head on a swivel as they made their way through the small forest.
As they walked, suddenly Olivia stopped and pointed at something. "Miltank!" She declared, having noticed something sitting in some nearby brush. Luka stopped and followed her pointing arm, finding what she had seen. He walked up to it and knelt down, much to Ebony's annyance, who walked over and tried to nudge him away, worried that it was a wild pokemon.
"Relax, Ebony, look." He said, pulling out the two yellow spray bottles, before taking a look at the label. "Antidotes, these might come in handy down the line. Someone probably dropped them, or maybe a pokemon ran off with them. Oh well, finders keepers. Good eye, Olivia." He said, looking behind him at the Miltank, who rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. He quickly put the bottles back in his bag, before looking up at the sky. The clouds had finally parted, and while it was still cold the sun provided some nice warmth, even in the shade of the trees. Hefting his bag onto his back, he glanced down at Ebony, who seemed a bit nonplussed. "Hey, you were probably right. I shouldn't have just gone looking for it myself before I knew it was safe." He said. He didn't want the houndour to think he didn't appreciate her looking out for him, after all that was what partners were for. She relaxed a little bit, seeming content with knowing that he wasn't annoyed with her, and trotted back towards the path they had been following. "Alright, lets get back on the road." And with that, the trio continued through the trees.
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